The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Can anyone please advise me on the originality of this machine pictured? The photos are not especially clear so I can't tell if the soundbox is original. I suspect the winding handle is a replacement but what about the horn and elbow? I don't recognise the horn but it looks wrong to me.

I'm no expert on H & S as we rarely find them on this side of the pond but I know there are many experts on H & S on the other side!

Thanks,

Steve

As you suspected, the horn, elbow, sound box, and crank are not original to the Star.

George P.

Hi George,

Thank you for the decisive response. That's a great pity. It would be almost impossible to get the correct parts over here so I doubt it's economically viable to consider purchase.

Have you got a picture of a Star machine like this one showing the correct parts in close up please? I did look through your books that I have but I couldn't really make an informed judgement from the size of the images available. It would be good to see how exactly it should appear.

In your opinion is this still worth a punt even without the right parts? I'm not sure how rare they are worldwide but I do know they are Hen's Teeth rare in the UK. The question remains if that makes enough of a difference. I appreciate that H & S machines were very well made and are very desirable.

Thanks,
Steve

Steve,

Star machines are pretty rare over here too. I must admit that I'd be reluctant to purchase the subject machine at anything less than a bargain-basement price, as finding the parts will be a challenge.

I Googled "Star phonograph" and found a couple of images of what the original missing parts look like:

George P.

If anyone has the needle rest/discard tube for one of these, please contact me.